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Majors in art history gain a broad understanding of Western art along with opportunities for in-depth examination of particular periods, such as ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and modern art. “There’s something I really love about the challenge that comes with the unexplored,” said Cotter. “I love the tradition that can emerge from that, and I love that I’m part of that tradition.”

The studio art major prepares students to create and analyze works of art by developing visual literacy, research skills, and technical ability. Students concentrate their studies in ceramics, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, or sculpture. “I knew that I wanted to do art and that I loved it, but at the same time I didn’t want to sacrifice having a really broad and rich education," said Lauren Miller ’15. “So I chose Notre Dame, and it was a really good decision for me.”

Latino studies is an interdisciplinary field engaged in understanding the fastest-growing population in the United States. Students explore the latest Latino-focused research in fields such as anthropology, history, literature, and theology. “Latino studies is for anyone and for everything,” said Juan Rangel ’15.

“Everything comes from classics. It offers a lot of different paths and a lot of interesting things to pursue,” said Brian Credo ’15, a classics major in the College of Arts and Letters. The interdisciplinary study of the ancient Mediterranean world, classics first intrigued Credo, a scholar in the Glynn Family Honors program, while studying Greek and Latin in high school.

“Different texts speak with different voices. Paying attention to these differences between different writings really helps to illumine the history of early Judaism,” said Gary Knoppers, John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Knoppers, whose research focuses on ancient Israelite history, is currently writing commentaries of 2 Chronicles and 1 and 2 Kings, Biblical texts authored during the Babylonian exile.

“Does uncertainty drive the business cycle or vice versa: does the business cycle actually cause uncertainty?” said Ruediger Bachmann, associate professor of economics at Notre Dame. Bachmann specializes in the macroeconomics of heterogenous agents. He serves as an associate editor for the Economic Journal and as a member of the executive committee of the German Economic Association. He has done extensive work on economic uncertainty and helped establish its counter-cyclical connection to the business cycle, Bachmann says, as a “new business cycle fact.”

Anne Seul ’15, a history and French major, spent the summer of 2014 conducting research at the Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville de Paris, the French capital’s historical library. Her research focused on perceptions of Denis Diderot, the 18th-century French philosopher best known as the chief editor of Encyclopédie and a key figure influencing the French Revolution. “It’s a new challenge. I’ve never done anything remotely like this by myself—living on my own and being in charge of this big project,” she said.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015! This video, screened at the Arts and Letters Diploma Ceremony, features several seniors reflecting on their time at Notre Dame and in the College of Arts and Letters.

During the summer of 2014, Patrick Butler and Patrick Valencia interned at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Dublin, Ireland. Both internships were sponsored by the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Without that support, Valencia said, he wouldn’t have been able to “have this wonderful experience living abroad.”

“I knew I wanted to major in Irish; I did not expect to end up in Ireland my first summer,” said Caelin Miltko, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Letters. During the summer of 2014, Miltko interned at the National Folklore Collection of Ireland based at University College Dublin. Her work centered on digitizing the Schools Collection, a group of manuscripts gathered by Irish schoolchildren in the 1930s featuring stories and traditions from their families.

Krysta Dennis majored in French and film, television, and theatre at Notre Dame and also has a master’s in Romance languages from the University. She is now associate lecturer at the University of Kent at Canterbury and is finishing a dual Ph.D. in theater and globalization. She also co-founded Through the Grapevine Performed Wine Tastings, a theatrical production company where each performance is devised based on the wine served during the show.

Maureen O’Neill ’77 is the director of development for the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law. One of the initial American studies majors when the program began in 1972, O’Neill is grateful to have analyzed what it means to be an American, even though she now lives in England.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this project and to be in Dublin. It’s an amazing opportunity,” said Katie Brennan, a sociology major in the College of Arts and Letters. During the summer of 2014, Brennan and three other University of Notre Dame undergraduates interned on the production of 1916: The Irish Rebellion, a three-part television documentary set to air on PBS, the BBC, and Irish broadcaster RTÉ in 2016.

“Women religious have tended to get pigeonholed in certain way, that either they were only praying the monastic hours or maybe just caring for their own, pastorally speaking, but they were doing much more than that,” said Katie Bugyis, a Ph.D. candidate in medieval studies through the University of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute.

“I actually knew that I wanted to do graduate work at Notre Dame when I was a sophomore in college,” said Amy Seymour, a Ph.D. candidate in Notre Dame’s graduate program in philosophy. Seymour chose Notre Dame, she said, because of the reputation of the University’s Center for Philosophy of Religion.

“How do we tell a more inclusive story that represents the broad and deep history of religion in the lands that became the United States?” said Thomas Tweed, the W. Harold and Martha Welch Endowed Chair in American Studies and professor of history at the University of Notre Dame.

Arts and Letters graduates find success in a variety of professions, across the country and around the world. “I was involved in and ran our recruiting effort at Goldman Sachs for a number of years,” said Bob Conway ’66, senior director for The Goldman Sachs Group, London. “An art history major was as valuable to me as a finance major.”

“How do we keep secrets and tell lies for decades at a time?” asked David Gibson, associate professor of sociology in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters. In this video, Gibson discusses his pioneering work toward a cohesive sociology of deception, analyzing secrets kept by corporations, government agencies, and other organizations.

“We’re here to look for treasure,” said David Hernandez, director of the Butrint Archaeological Research Project. “And I think of this as an intellectual treasure, really, and a cultural treasure. It’s a very special city.” Hernandez, who has directed field projects at Butrint since 2004, is an assistant professor of classics and concurrent assistant professor of anthropology at Notre Dame.

“I want to do research that provides some hints to both major political parties as to how they might be able to make effective appeals to Latino communities, and through Latino communities, to many other communities across the United States,” said Luis Fraga, the Arthur Foundation Endowed Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership and professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

“If you teach a student to learn to swim, you must put the student in the water. The same philosophy we can apply to the classroom teaching,” said Yongping Zhu, associate professor and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.

John Sitter, the Mary Lee Duda Professor of Literature in the University of Notre Dame’s Department of English, was awarded the 2014 Sheedy Excellence in Teaching Award. The highest teaching honor in the University’s College of Arts and Letters, the Sheedy award was founded in 1970 in honor of Rev. Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C., who served as dean of the College from 1951–69. 2013 Sheedy Award winner Julia Douthwaite, professor of French and Francophone studies, introduced Sitter at the December 2 awards ceremony.

“I tell everyone that I meet that they should take an Irish language course,” said Rae Moors, a senior Irish language and literature major. In the first program of its kind in North America, Notre Dame Irish majors learn the indigenous language of Ireland and engage with a wide range of literature, from medieval sagas to contemporary poetry and prose. “There are so many angles you can take while studying Ireland,” said Moors.

From a 17th-century castle in Birr, Ireland to the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Spain, Notre Dame students pursue projects around the world with the support of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. Sponsored by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, UROP provides financial support to students who are carrying out research or creative projects, writing a senior thesis, or presenting research at a conference.

During the summer of 2014, Notre Dame Spanish and pre-health major Nick Nissen traveled to Spain with finance and philosophy major Paul Grima to study the varied rates of cesarean sections across autonomous communities there.

During the summer of 2014, Notre Dame French and history major Curran Cross traveled to Paris to conduct research at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. His project examined the differing views of Arab and African immigrants in modern France. “My hypothesis is that the French have had centuries of experience racially mixing with people of African ancestry and this is why they view black and white race as a continuum,” said Cross, “whereas they haven’t had this kind of contact with Arabs, and so it’s viewed more starkly.”

“The breadth of studies that I had at Notre Dame, whether it was in philosophy, or theology, or economics, or history, all developed a context for me and will for any liberal arts student,” said Bob Conway ’66. Conway is senior director for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., in London, England. He feels that the writing and communication skills he gained as a government major were critical to his success and are essential in any career.

“I am more than glad that I chose Africana studies. It’s a major that helps you form a way of going about life,” said Olivia Furman, a senior in the College of Arts and Letters. Africana studies at the University of Notre Dame centers on Africans and the African Diaspora—the global dispersion of peoples of African descent—and examines their historical, sociological, political, and economic contexts around the world.

“The capacity to project into the future is an essential component of our agency as human beings. It’s in our imaginations, yet it has a real impact upon what we do. It draws us forward in different ways,” said Ann Mische, an associate professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

“Arts and Letters forces you to go and think beyond what is traditionally and conventionally accepted,” said Bill Kennedy ’90. Kennedy, who majored in economics at Notre Dame, is a portfolio manager for Fidelity Investments in London, where he runs Fidelity’s International Discovery Fund.